President
Melaine Fuentes-Foster is serving a 2-year term, starting in July 2023. Melaine has been an active member of the Peekskill PTO since 2016. She started as a general volunteer at Picture Days, Book Fairs, and Trunk-or-Treat. She then went on to serve as a class parent from 2016-2020. In 2019/2020 Melaine co-led the class parent program. In 2022/2023, Melaine headed the Special Events team and helped bring multiple experiences to the community, including Trunk-or-Treat, the Book Giveaway, the Book Fair, and our year-end Movie Night. Melaine is an organized, diligent, respectful, and responsible individual. She is a strong leader who has an open ear and understands the importance of flexibility. She is excited to be leading the PTO, furthering our mission to support our community and families, and to enrich their experiences as part of the PCSD community.
Vice President
Lanice Kind is serving a 2-year term, starting in July 2022. In prior years, Lanice participated in the Special Events committee and the Class Parent committee. She brings her skills of collaboration, communication, critical thinking, project management, attention to detail, and team spirit to our PTO leadership team. Lanice is passionate about the growth of the Peekskill School District and its potential to provide better schools and a well-rounded educational experience to our children. She believes it is imperative for parent involvement to increase and for the voice of the parent to be represented to advocate for our children and support our school district.
Treasurer
Halle Chizmadia is serving her second 2-year term and has been PTO Treasurer since 2020. Halle has been an active member of the PTO since her twins were in pre-K, serving as a member of the Special Events committee, Trunk-or-Treat host, and book drive organizer. She has been a regular volunteer at Saturday Academy, including working at the book fair and selling spirit gear. As PTO Treasurer, Halle has collaborated in organizing fundraisers, managed the PTO’s finances, and represented the PTO at P.A.T. Meetings and the Realtor Forum. In addition, she spearheaded the PTO project of purchasing and donating P.E. Equipment to each school in the district. As an officer, Halle has developed positive relationships with building leaders and administrators and actively recruited new members to the PTO. She is excited to serve another term as Treasurer and continue serving our community.
Secretary
Katharine Bloeser is serving a 2-year term, starting July 2023. Prior to serving as Secretary, Katharine was an active member of the Advocacy Committee, helping to organize the mental health initiative. Outside the PTO, Katharine is a social worker with strong organizational and administrative skills. She leads evaluation and research for a large government agency. Katharine is eager to contribute her valuable expertise as a social worker to the PTO as our Secretary and a member of our leadership team. She is excited about helping to foster a community that supports our parents and teachers.
The PTO holds officer elections annually at our June general meeting. Our officers serve two-year terms, starting July 1st of their election year.
Interested in stepping into a leadership role? Learn more about our election process here.